At Luna: Kelly Wheat, Michael Mcdermott,
abe, and a fair amount of 2001 syrah on
the ground

In 1998, I took a sabbatical
from St. John's College, where I had been teaching
for nine years, and began an intership at Stag's
Leap Wine Cellars. While I was there, I met
John Kongsgaard, whose son and daughter were
both on the verge of college and interested
in St. John's. I had no intention of ever even
learning how to make wine, but John seemed to
have a wisdom between Socrates' and Merlin's,
and it was hard not want to want to become
his student. Even at this point, making wine
was not on my mind. I wanted to learn about
growing grapes, and making picking decisions.
What happened after that would be in someone
else's hands.

I made my first wines at Luna Vineyards under
John. Nothing expected transpired after that
point. I continue the story here.